Bear is a modern day fairytale-like story (and tragedy) of two sisters on a Pacific Northwest island who are buried in debt working demanding service industry jobs while taking care of their dying mother. I was excited to read this after enjoying Julia Philips’s debut, Disappearing Earth, last year.

This one is very different but still just as character-focused. I found the beginning a little bit slow, but once it picked up, I had to know what happened.

Sam has always allowed her older sister, Elena to take charge of their financial responsibilities and physical care when it comes to taking care of their mother. She’s also always trusted that she and Elena had a plan when their mother finally died—sell the house and escape the island that has held them captive for their whole lives. Then a bear arrives on the island and everything changes.

One of the most interesting things to me about this book is that you think you can trust Sam, just Elena and the vision she believes Elena has laid out for them. But in the end, you find out that Sam really knows nothing about her sister. Even the plan for their future that Sam clung to throughout the book is stripped away. It all goes back to the arrival of the bear on the island. But is it really the bear that caused this change in the sister’s relationship, or did they never really know each other at all?

I also love the “woman gone wild” trope that is explored here.

The ending is jarring and dark in a way that I didn’t expect, even though the rest of the book was equally as depressing. It will make you wonder what in the world it’s really saying about sisterhood, death, grief and poverty. I feel the twist at the end works even though part of me isn’t even sure if the bear ever existed at all. After all, Bear reads like a dark fairytale. It makes sense it ends like one too.

I really enjoyed this story of two adult sisters living on the beautiful island of San Juan, Washington..
the island is beautiful but their house is rundown and they have so much debt.
Their house is was their grandmothers and the sisters Elena and Sam were raised there as was their mother.
Their mother is terminally ill now and the both sisters care for her and work hard to stay afloat .. bills, both household and medical from the mother’s illness have left them in dire straits.
One evening…a huge brown bear appears … it swam to the island when Sam was watching at her job on the ferry… then it appeared right outside their house.
The rest of the story is for you to read.
It’s a good one! Enjoy!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC!

Two sisters, Sam and Elena, born and raised on a Pacific Northwest island off the coast of Washington, struggle with their ailing single mother to survive. Sam works on the ferry that delivers wealthy mainlanders to their vacation homes while Elena bartends at the local golf club. Together, they can't earn enough to get by, stirring their frustration about their lives' limits and futures. When a bear enters their lives, things that have been unspoken between the sisters come to light, and their bond begins to unravel. Sam, terrified, is more convinced than ever that after their mother dies, they need to leave the island. Elena responds differently to the massive beast. Its presence enchants her, and she goes out of her way to lure it closer. Elena's reaction causes Sam to wonder if their bond ever existed, and this throws into doubt Ellen's purported desire to escape putting their long-held dream in danger. I couldn't get into the characters and found the storyline boring, so I wouldn't recommend this book.

Bear by Julia Phillips is an incredible book. Sam and Elena are sisters living on San Juan Island and working at blue collar jobs while taking care of their mother, who suffers from a terminal disease. One night, the sisters discover a bear sitting at their front door. How each sister deals with the bear, and how it affects both of their lives, is the heart of the book. It is a hard book to say that you love, because it focuses so much on loss: loss of family, loss of dreams, loss of innocence. It is beautifully written and this book will stay with me for a long time. I never cry at the end of books, but I definitely cried at the end of this one.

I was utterly moved and surprised by Julia Phillips' masterpiece BEAR. It's a short novel, and lots happens, so it's hard to talk too much about the plot without giving anything away. I'm happy I went into it completely blind, as a found myself actually gasping more than once at the end of chapter cliffhangers. This was my first Julia Phillips' book, and it certainly won't be my last.

At the heart of it, BEAR is about sisters. Sam and Elena live on an island off of the coast of Washington state where Elena works at a golf course and Sam works concessions on a tourist ferry. They are living paycheck to paycheck as they take care of their dying mother, One day, they have a surprising visitor knock on their door and their entire lives are upended in the most unexpected way. Warning - the book is sad with a capital S. But it's also absolutely beautiful, incredibly unique, and one that will stay with me for a long time.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to live somewhere else? Well these sisters did.

I was hooked from page one. Its a beautiful story of sisters and family. An absolute memorable story. I will remember this story. A definite recommend

Thank you Netgalley and random house

All thoughts and opinions are my own and aren't influenced by anyone else

Filled with a distinct sense of place (San Juan Island, Washington State), this book explored the relationship dynamic between two sisters as they journey through their mother's illness. Themes of generational poverty, life patterns seemingly passed from grandmother to mother to daughter, the denial or seeking of relationships are addressed, all as a wild, mysterious beast of a bear intrudes upon their lives. Is the bear a metaphor? Is he a magical savior?

This book had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen. I read it in less than a day. I'm not sure I like how it ended. You'll have to read it and decide for yourself.

As I read this book, parts of it reminded me of The Bear by Claire Cameron and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review

Intricate and beautiful story about sisterhood that worked very very well! Would recommend. Thanks for the arc!

I absolutely loved Disappearing Earth, so was excited to see a second novel by Julia Phillips. I don’t know that I have adequate words to describe this story without entirely spoiling it, so this will be a bit vague. I loved it, while also being frustrated by it (or at least by the main character, Sam) the entire time. With every appearance of the Bear, I could understand more and more how each sister felt, though I definitely fell more to Elena’s view of things, regardless of how irresponsible her actions were. Up until the end, I really couldn’t guess how things would turn out. It’s a tragically beautiful tale, and I look forward to whatever the author does next.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital arc of this book.

I really enjoyed Disappearing Earth, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to read this ARC. I was easily immersed in Phillips’ setting, characters, and language, and there were some twists I didn’t expect or predict at all, which was great. I did feel like it could have been trimmed down, especially due to a lot of repetition regarding characters’ situations and feelings instead of development. I also thought a couple of supporting characters could have been developed further (while I also understand that a lack of development in some characters was important and purposeful). I will certainly read her next book!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Bear by Julia Phillips.

Sam and Elena have made a very unlikely and potentially dangerous new neighbor in their small island town. A bear, a bear who swam himself to their island, becoming the talk of the town, But for some reason he spends a lot of time close to these two sisters, who are taking care of their sick mom. But there is a reason that the bear stays close, and that reason could mean peril for this small family.

I don't really want to reveal more than that. This book moves slow and fast and perfectly. It tells the story of a bear on an island town while opening the story wide open about Sam, Elena, and their young lives caring for their mom, while dreaming of someday leaving the island.

I NEVER could have expected the direction that this book went in, but I also think that's what I loved about it. There is a lot of loss and grief, but the author makes sure to take care of through through that journey.

4.25 stars. This is a slow, yet propulsive tale of the bond between two sisters and how growing up can transform the dreams once shared, once clung to. Sam has been disillusioned with San Juan Island for most of her life due to her entitled affluent neighbors and feeling like an outsider in the place she grew up. Her family has struggled financially for years, which is exacerbated when her mother grows ill and transitions to end of life care. Elena, her sister, also shares Sam’s dream of escaping. For Sam, clinging onto to that dream is what grounds her to trudge on in her in her difficult life.

When a bear shows up on the island and reappears repeatedly at their house, Sam wants the misplaced creature to scram, while Elena becomes enchanted with it. Both of their divergent reactions to the bear cross into irrational at times, and that made me rip through the book because of that looming tension. The bear is as real as the heaping, stinking piles it leaves in their yard, but it is also a metaphor for what transpires between the sisters after his arrival.

Perhaps I’m biased because I have a cousin who lives in the San Juans, but I really loved how the bear was used to convey that sense of claustrophobia you get on a small island. Julia Phillips skillfully portrayed the essence of what the islands look and feel like. Sam also felt distinctly real and I liked how her family’s situation was used to give us a sense of the wealth imbalance that plagues the US and her island. The San Juan’s, which are a “getaway” location for the affluent, are touched by gentrification, which always leaves families like Sam’s behind.

This is a story many will connect with as the dream to break free from where we were born is so universal. This is one of those stories that sticks with you. Thank you to NetGalley and Hogarth Press for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this book that comes out in June. I was intrigued by this book when I read about it...a story of 2 sisters, Elena and Sam who are very close and live with their financially strapped mom who is dying. They dream of getting of of the island they live/work on and go somewhere to live life fully. Then a bear starts coming around their place. A big dangerous bear. And how they feel about this bear divides them...Sam fears it, Elena thinks its a blessing. Secrets are revealed and tragedy strikes. I liked the story told from Sam's point of view. I loved the subtext of fairy tale themes thru the story. This is a touching story of sisterhood, family, loss and nature. I will be thinking about this one for awhile.

Two sisters live on a small island and work service jobs as they take care of their sick mother, their costly family house, and each other. One morning, a bear takes an interest in their house.

I'm honestly stumped on how to summarize Bear's setup and appeal beyond that because it's unclear to me what counts as a spoiler for this book.

This is slow-building literary fiction that some readers would be really into. If you enjoy meditation, you could be one of them. I personally would rather do my taxes than meditate - I need progress and palpable change in an activity in order to enjoy it. Bear didn't fulfill that need for me.

This is an interesting case where a novel centers on the relationship between two characters, both of whom are well-developed, and yet for some reason I didn't feel a connection to them. In that respect, Bear reminded me of Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.

By the 50% mark, I was feeling more and more reluctant to pick up Bear. I was still waiting to feel connected to the sisters. I ended up skimming through the last half of the novel. Events do start happening towards the end of Bear. But don't pick up this novel for the sake of plot twists. Pick it up if you want to read a slowly unfolding relationship between two sisters that delves into their inner world.

P.S. word of advice: don't read this during breakfast.

This is a beautiful, atmospheric novel about two sisters in their late 20s living in the San Juan islands off the coast of Washington state, struggling to stay financially afloat while working crappy jobs where they have to cater to the whims of wealthy tourists and residents. It's a story of how their lives and strong bond begin to unravel after a bear shows up at their house. It’s about sisterhood and sacrifice and the stories we tell ourselves in order to cope with our current realities. And it’s richly descriptive of a lush setting that I’d known nothing about. I was pretty mesmerized by all of it. Loved this even more than her debut, Disappearing Earth (totally different and also excellent).

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy!

Beautiful and immersive storytelling. Sam and Elena are barely making ends meet. Their mother’s medical bills are piling up. Sam is working a dead-end job and dreaming of her (and Elena’s) move off of San Juan island once their mother passes and they are able to sell their home. One day, a bear is spotted near the island, then on the island, then near Sam’s and Elena’s house and it changes the course of their lives.

The writing is just lovely, haunting, and restrained with themes of sisterhood, ambition, desire, class woven throughout. Highly recommend.

Thank you very much to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for providing my review copy.

Wow!! I fell in love with Disappearing Earth so I knew that I would read whatever Julia Phillips wrote next. I was thrilled to be approved to read Bear and it was WONDERFUL. Two sisters in their early adulthood as they work to keep afloat and care for their dying mother come across a grizzly bear at their front door. From there, you'll just have to read it to find out.
The setting, the character development, their relationship. I was sucked in from the start and I couldn't put it down.. I can't wait to continue following Julia Phillips into whatever world she writes about next.

This book will get a lot of attention for the direction the plot takes at the very end, which is in itself decisive. But the real progression happening is in the two sisters and how we perceive them. It’s not so much that they fundamentally change as their and the reader’s understanding of each changes. The point isn’t so much who is right or wrong, but how we arrive at who we are and what expectations we have for each other, especially family. How unspoken needs and assumptions can fracture a relationship, especially one under a lot of stress. The epically bad communication at work is less remarkable than how naturally it happens. It’s a fairly simple storyline with a lot to reflect on.

This is a story of sisters who live in a quietly beautiful setting with their mother, who is slowly fading away, losing her grip on life a little bit more each day. Their daily lives seem to blend into one another as the days, weeks, months pass, but not much changes. That is, until one night when a bear appears on their doorstep, which changes everything.

Sam, the younger sister, is terrified that this bear will continue to return to their home, while the other sister slowly becomes obsessed with the bear, and spends her days seeking him out. It changes everything, including the relationship between the two sisters.

In the meantime, life and work continue to take up most of the time for Sam who works on a ferry, and barely makes enough money to make it worth her while. There are mild flirtations, and perhaps more, but she isn’t looking for a partner with so much going on at home.

Elena’s interest in the bear becomes an obsession, and then beyond that...it brings about changes which are not easily forgotten.


Pub Date: 25 Jun 2024


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Random House, Hogarth

Julia Phillips’s Disappearing Earth was one of my favorite novels of 2019 and her follow up novel Bear is just as beautiful. Her characters Sam and Elena will be on my mind for a long time and the lyricism of Phillips’s prose is worth savoring. I love the ambiguousness of the meaning of the bear and its connection to Elena and her family. Thank you for the opportunity to read this advanced copy! I will highly recommend Bear to all of my friends and students, and I look forward to reading everything Phillips publishes in the future.